Creative Road Trip Ideas for a Trip You’ll Never Forget
So you’ve put together your perfect road trip playlist, packed your bag and gathered all the necessary road trip snacks to throw in the car. Are you ready for an epic road trip?
I will never turn down a road trip with friends. It’s always been on my bucket list to take a road trip out to the West Coast and criss-cross through the epic nature spots throughout the country and take the back roads. After exploring the state of North Carolina for college, I realized there are so many fun road trip ideas to make traveling more fun and unforgettable. It doesn’t matter if you only travel an hour away from your house or if you pack up for a cross-country expedition, these creative road trip ideas will put you on a journey you’ll always remember.
1. Choose a road trip theme.
For example, you can make it a food tour, stopping in a different coffee shop in every city. Or you could make it a food truck theme and visit a different food truck wherever you go. You’ll become an expert in coffee or food trucks, and will be able to share this knowledge with friends and family. As a plus, you might even find the world’s best cup of coffee.
Another theme could be a fitness theme. In every city, stop to do a workout. Start with yoga in the morning, a game of soccer or basketball in the afternoon and a long walk on the beach at night. Stay outdoors and keep your blood pumping for the adventure that awaits.
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2. Let Instagram guide your path.
Search a location on Instagram or another social media site and go to the first place that pops up in the feed. This adds a level of randomness and spontaneity to your trip. If the first option doesn’t work out, try something similar or get creative.
Or if you don’t want to search a location, ask your friends or followers where the best places are in a certain town or city. You’ll never know who you will be able to meet or what the locals will suggest!
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3. Take stops along the road (but not at rest stops or fast-food places).
One thing my family loves to do is pack picnics to eat in a park or along the side of the road. All we need is a shade tree and some grass or picnic table to sit on. It’s a fun way to eat outside and do something different on your road trip. Plus, you can save money and get outside while you take a break from the car.
4. Skip the GPS.
Get your friends together and a paper map. Yes, a paper map. Choose the route you want to go and have fun looking for the right turns and going down those side country roads. You can outline your route with a highlighter or even stitch your route with thread to make travel wall art.
Related Post: Why I Love Traveling On My Own
5. Create a photo scavenger hunt.
What’s a road trip without photos? Make a travel-themed photo scavenger hunt contest. See who can get pictures with a deer-crossing sign, a jumbo Slurpee, a truck stop or the state line.
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6. Make a road trip journal or do a craft in the backseat.
Growing up, I had some friends who were a little bit older than me. On our family & friends road trip every summer, they would make collages in notebooks from magazines and fun paper clippings. The result was fun journals that documented the trends, memories and ideas from that summer. All you need is a notebook, pen, scissors, glue and some inspiring magazines or brochures to make your own travel journal. Use it to inspire you or to document your travels. I love investing in creative projects while traveling in order to take advantage of all the new things popping up along the roads around you.
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What are your ideas for the ultimate road trip?! Let’s get creative to make the hours of driving down beautiful roads the best they can be. Let’s turn off our technology, fill our tanks, grab some friends, and set off for a journey worthy of a travel documentary. Let’s do this!